Bonita Avenue by Dutch author Peter Buwalda is a firecracker of a novel that will literally leave you speechless. It’s a novel filled with despicable dishonest people but you will find each and every word of their delicious dishonesties a delight to read. I for one did not know what to expect from a novel with such an innocuous title. It’s more than you could dream about in a novel about families and their dynamics.
The novel is based around a firecracker explosion that took place in a town in the Netherlands called Enschede in the year 2000 where 23 people were killed and close to 1000 injured. This event sets up the family explosion that takes place over the close to 600 pages of this novel.
The main characters are Siem a mathematician genius and judo wrestler, his wife Tineke, his two daughters Joni and Janis, a son named Wilbert and Joni’s husband Aaron. They are a family that may seem normal on the outside but once you dig deeper there are things that one would never guess could possibly take place in their lives (think Jonathan Franzen meets Tracie Letts only better!)
Buswalda tells the story in a seesaw fashion that gives away what happens and then goes back to tell you how it happens. At first it’s a bit off-putting but by then end you are turning the pages waiting for the events to unfold. I already told you it’s a novel about a family that has secrets but if I reveal them it will take away a bit of the punch. It’s one of those books that if it catches on, which I hope it does, will have Gone Girl readers lining up at bookstore to grab this tome.
